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Sunday, 28 August 2016

Learn About the new Gender changes in English..

Gender-Inclusive Language
for New English Learners

Gender refers to either being a man or a woman. Gender-inclusive language
can be defined as language that doesn’t prefer one gender over another.
Here are a few examples of gender-biased language common in the English
language used in the past.A doctor can treat you for a wide variety of diseases. It’s important
that he understands your healthhistory.Successful businessmen understand how to negotiate good deals.
In the first sentence, the writer speaks in general about doctors, but
assumes that a doctor is a man. In
the second example, the term businessmen ignores the fact that many successful
business people are
women.

Terminology

gender = the sex of a person -> male or female
gender-inclusive = including all genders
gender-biased = showing a preference for or against a gender
gender-neutral = showing no preference for or against a gender
As an English student, it’s possible that you’ve learned some English that
has gender-biased language. Gender-biased can be understood as language which
uses stereotypes to describe men and women.

This article will help you recognize gender-biased English language
statements and provide suggestions on how you can use more gender-inclusive
language. English is already difficult enough, so you might not think this
is important. However, there is a strong push towards the use of more
gender-neutral language in day to day usage, especially at work.

Over the past few decades, writers and instructors have become more aware of
common terminology
and writing styles that tend to favor men and assumptions about behavior that
no longer reflect the
modern world. To change this, English speakers have adopted new terminology
that reflect a more
gender-neutral style.

Common Changes in Professions

The easiest change you can make is with professions that end in ‘-man’ such
as ‘businessman’ or
‘postman’. Often we substitute ‘person’ for ‘-man’, in other cases the name of
the profession may
change. Another word that changes is ‘master’ which indicates a man. Here are
some of the most common changes.

A lot of other author or writers has quite well explained in
details, 1 who is looking stuffs, should Google further.

Mr. and Ms.

In English, Mr. is used for all men. However, in the past, women were either
‘Mrs.’ or ‘Miss’ depending
on whether they were married. Now, ‘Ms.’ is used for all women. ‘Ms.’ reflects
that it is not important to
know whether a women is married or not. We’re all equal!

Gender-Neutral Pronouns

Pronouns can be very tricky. In the past, when speaking in general, the
pronoun ‘he’ was often used.A person who lives in the country has many advantages. He can enjoy
daily walks and enjoy fresh air. He can live a healthy life and meet with his
friends.
However, this shows a bias towards men in general. Of course, there are
healthy women who live in the country! Here are a few suggestions on how to
stay away from this common mistake.

He / She

Some writers like to use he/she – him/her (or she/he – her/him) to show both
are possible when
speaking in general.When someone gets ready to find a new job, he/she needs to be aware that
there are many challengesin this difficult market. It’s up to her/him to research any job opening
carefully.

Alternating Pronouns

Another approach is to change pronoun forms throughout your writing. This is
a more elegant solution,
but can be confusing to the reader.Someone who goes shopping will have too many choices. He might have more
than twenty clothing stores to choose from. Or, she might just go to a
department store. In any case, he might spend more time trying to find just the
right item.

They = She / He

Writers may also use 'they/them' to indicate only one person. Once again,
this might be confusing to readers.You can be sure someone understand by how they react to your statement.Does anybody know the answer to the question? They can email the director
with the answer.

Plural Forms

One of the easiest ways to be gender-neutral in your writing is to speak in
general and use plural forms when possible rather than the singular. Consider
this example:A student has to be on time and take careful notes. He/She also needs to
do homework every night. Students have to be on time and take careful notes. They also need to do
homework every night.
In the second example, the plural pronoun 'they' replaces 'students' as the
rules are meant for everybody.